Graphic Images Of North Korea's 1983 Bombing Released

This photo received from
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo (newspaper) taken on October 9, 1983
shows a previously never-seen-before photo of the bombing attack
by North Korea on then-South Korean President Chun Doo-Hwan's
entourage in Yangon, Myanmar. At the request of the photographer,
the photo was sensored (pixelated) because of sensitivity to the
relatives of the dead victims.Kim
Sang-Yeong/AFP/Chosun Ilbo

Kim Sang-Yeong/AFP/Chosun Ilbo

A Seoul newspaper on Thursday published graphic,
never-before-seen pictures of the bloody aftermath of North
Korea's 1983 bid to assassinate South Korean president Chun
Doo-Hwan with a bomb attack in Myanmar.

The images were taken by official government photographer Kim
Sang-Yeong, who had kept them private at the personal request of
then-president Chun to avoid upsetting the relatives of the
victims.

Chun survived the October 9 bombing of the Aung San Martyrs'
Mausoleum in Yangon, which killed 21 people including three
senior politicians in his presidential entourage.

The main photo, published on the front page of the Chosun Ilbo,
showed mangled bodies, bleeding from shrapnel wounds and lying in
the debris of the collapsed mausoleum, with South Korean embassy
staff scrambling to find survivors.

Chun's life was spared thanks to traffic congestion. He was only
minutes away from the mausoleum when the bomb, concealed in the
roof, went off just above the gathered presidential entourage.

Chosun Ilbo said other pictures taken by Kim, showing burning
bodies and bloodied victims screaming for help, had still been
deemed too graphic to print.

"We were lined up, waiting for the president's arrival," Kim told
the daily.

"Then there was an ear-splitting thump and I passed out. When I
came back to my senses, there was just blood, shouting and the
stench of burning flesh and rubble.

"There were ministers dying on the ground. I thought, 'Oh, God,
how could this happen?' and then started clicking away with my
camera," he said.

After handing his camera to a security guard, Kim lost
consciousness again and the next time he woke he was in a
hospital bed.

Among the dead were foreign minister Lee Beom-Seok, as well as
the deputy prime minister and industry minister.

Another 14 Korean presidential advisers, journalists, and
security officials were killed, along with four Burmese
nationals.

The Chosun Ilbo has been running a campaign to build a monument
to the victims of the bombing, and Kim said he had handed the
photos to the newspaper to help the fund-raising efforts.

The front-page photo, at Kim's request, was printed in
black-and-white, and the upturned face of one of the dead victims
was censored.